You shopped for weeks, full-on ugly-cried when you first slipped it on, and shelled out more money for it than you've ever spent on a single piece of clothing. But post- cake cutting, the unfortunate reality is you'll probably never wear your wedding dress again. Yeah, bummer, right? So what to do with that huge, tulle-filled garment bag taking up space in the back of your closet?

We've heard of brides preserving their gowns so they may hang on to them as a keepsake, passing them down to their future children in the years to come, or donating their frocks. But one bride got a little, uhh, creative when it came to finding a new after-"I do" use for her wedding dress. Basically when Tess Heidelberger of Mauldin, South Carolina discovered her decades-old wedding dress in her basement, she essentially said "Well, I can't wear this anymore, but why can't my Christmas tree?" and promptly whipped up the ruffled, puffy-sleeved frock into a fluffy Christmas tree skirt. Because why not, right?

After 26 years in a musky basement, this wedding dress has found new life — and a new song! Exchanging the wedding march for "Oh, Christmas Tree," Heidelberger's old gown now lives under her evergreen thanks to a bout of inspiration that struck after pulling out the vintage frock.

"The dress is so '80s," Heidelberger explained to ABC News. "When I pulled it out when I was planning my daughter's wedding, we looked at it like, 'Ugh. Yeah, no one's ever going to wear this again.' I looked at my youngest daughter and she's like, 'Oh, hell no.'" Geez, kid. Ouch. "I told them it was cute at the time!" said the former 1990 bride.

Even though the wedding dress was never going to see the inside of a venue hall again, tossing it wasn't an option for Heidelberger. "I'm sentimental so you don't want to throw it away," she said. So she decided to make the dress a part of a new tradition — with a little help from a pair of scissors and hot glue gun.

"The first cut was the hardest," said Heidelberger of slicing into her beloved wedding dress (as brides around the world all clutch their pearls). But after an afternoon of crafting and cutting, the once outdated organza wedding dress was transformed into a beautiful Christmas tree skirt, just in time for a carol or two. "When I put it under the tree it just looked like a fluffy cloud," said Heidelberger. "I'm so happy I can look at it every year. It's so pretty. And it's so much better than staring at your dress through that cellophane window in the box."

Oliva has receipts showing she paid $600 to McLearn’s PayPal account, but McLearn said she never received the money.

Oliva said McLearn didn’t show up to her wedding reception, and she fears she will never get her money back.

“Even if I don’t get my money back, I wanted to let others know the type of business she is doing and make others aware so they don’t fall into the same trap I did,” she said.

Sadly, Jennifer and Justin Richard say they are victims, too.

They hired McLearn to do the catering at their September nuptials, but said they didn’t get what they paid for.

They told Channel 2 they paid more than $6,000 for gourmet chicken and turkey, but that’s not what was served at their wedding.

“The food was terrible,” Richard said. “To the point some of our guests left and went to Jack in the Box and some of our guests told us they also went to Taco Bell. It was so embarrassing and hurtful to us.”

Richard said they paid for food that was worth $30 a person but were served food worth only $10 a person. They would like their money refunded.

“I would like for us to get our money back and also for her to stop doing this nasty business and ruining people’s special day,” the Richards said.

In an emailed statement Mclearn said, “I have never claimed to be perfect and have tried to be very honest with my potential clients about my experience and that no celebration goes perfectly. I have always been and remain committed to providing my very best services to every client. For every mistake in judgment we have encountered along the way, we have developed a solution to ensure that it does not happen again.” McLearn went on to say, “I have a clear conscience knowing that my staff and I have always done everything in our power and worked very hard to provide the best possible catering services under whatever circumstances we were presented with. Nonetheless, we no longer provide formal, special event catering services that could even potentially lead to these issues.“

“We just want to get the word out,” Justin Richard said. “She’s done this to several people and gotten away with it.”

The event is an opportunity to see the gallery’s dedicated events space, The Biscuit Room, laid out for a ceremony and reception.

Throughout the afternoon, The Biscuit Factory’s events team will be on hand to talk to guests, one-to-one, about the venue’s unique portfolio of services, The Wedding Collection.

Tom Gostling, Events Manager at The Biscuit Factory says: “We’re holding our open event on a weekend for the very first time and hope that this new format will enable even more couples to come along and see our beautiful venue first-hand. We love meeting with couples face-to-face, to discuss how we can help make their dream wedding become a reality.”

Guests can also enjoy a selection of handpicked canapés as a little taster of the in-house catering; accompanied by a complimentary glass of fizz.

Located within the Ouseburn valley, The Biscuit Factory is housed within a former Victorian warehouse, providing weddings with an inspiring, culturally-infused backdrop that’s characterised by contemporary art collections, wooden beams and original brickwork. Its purpose-built Biscuit Room is one of the largest in the city, accommodating up to 150 guests for a ceremony and 250 seated guests for a meal and party.